Pudge, Rangers crown KC, 12-5

ARLINGTON (AP) - It's tough to do, but Ivan Rodriguez's offense has been even more impressive than his defense lately.

Rodriguez had a career-high five hits and drove in four runs in an eight-run third inning as the Texas Rangers beat the Kansas City Royals 12-5 Sunday night.

Rodriguez hit a two-run homer and a two-run single in the third, and the Rangers went on to their 12th victory in their past 14 games. In his past four games, Rodriguez is 13-for-19 with nine RBIs.

"I feel strong at the plate," Rodriguez said. "My bat is quicker. Tonight feels great. But the bottom line is I just want to help my team win."

Since the All-Star break, Rodriguez has hit safely in 14 of 15 games and is batting .471 (33-for-70) over that span, raising his average from .295 to .328.

"He's a great talent, but the main thing is he loves to play the game," Rangers manager Johnny Oates said. "I had five hits in the minors once, but I don't think I had five hits in a week in the majors.

"He hits good pitches, he hits bad pitches, he has great hand-eye coordination. He's just being Pudge."

Aaron Sele (11-6) got plenty of support to win his fourth straight decision. Sele allowed five runs and eight hits in eight innings, striking out seven and walking one.

Sele struggled through the middle innings but retired the last seven batters he faced.

"I keep going back out there until they tell me I'm done," Sele said. "You've got to tip your cap to our hitters."

Ruben Mateo's double in the second gave Texas a 1-0 lead, but Kansas City tied it in the third on Johnny Damon's RBI-groundout.

Texas broke the game open in the third, knocking out Brian Barber (1-3), who started in place of the traded Kevin Appier. The former Royals ace was dealt to the Oakland Athletics on Saturday.

Rodriguez hit his 19th homer to put the Rangers in front 3-1. Later in the inning, Todd Zeile had a two-run double for a 5-1 lead.

Blake Stein, one of three pitchers acquired for Appier, allowed a sacrifice fly to Lee Stevens, and the inning's sixth run scored on Stein's wild pitch. Rodriguez's two-run single extended Texas' advantage to 9-1.

Royce Clayton's RBI-single in the fourth gave the Rangers a 10-1 lead, but Kansas City came back with a four-run fifth, which included Rey Sanchez's run-scoring single and Carlos Beltran's three-run homer.

Stevens added a solo homer in the eighth.

The Rangers improved to 5-1 against the Royals this season and 17-5 against the AL Central.

"Eight runs in the third inning is hard to overcome, but we did make a game of it," Royals manager Tony Muser said.

MOTES: Rodriguez's effort marked the 24th time a Ranger had five hits in a game. ... Stein and Brad Rigby, two of the pitchers acquired in the Appier deal, joined the Royals on Sunday. Jeff D'Amico went to the Royals Triple-A farm team in Omaha. ... To make room for the pitchers on the 40-man roster, right-hander Hipolito Pichardo and infielder Scott Leius were transferred from the 15-day to the 60-day DL. ... Barber allowed seven runs and seven hits in two-plus innings. ... The Rangers called up left-hander Doug Davis from Triple-A Oklahoma and sent right-hander Jonathon Johnson to Oklahoma. ... The Rangers have scored eight runs in an inning three times this season.